Why can't people write?

[Chuck Tringo]

I was reading today that US high school students ranked 13th in the world last year in science based on what is taught at the schools as well as how well the students achieved. China and South Korea were in the top 5...The world's only super power is in more trouble than you know...

[Marty Paulus]

Couple of points: Just saw in the news that somewhere in the neighborhood of 39% of college grads are no smarter then the first day they hit the campus. That in itself is scary since most jobs these days require some form of college degree.

Second, Many of the catalogs may be written in another country and run though a rough translator. Try typing a sentence in a translator program like Google translate. Translate from english to some asian language then translate that sentence back to english and see what you get. If I am not mistaken most other languages have different sentence structures then we do. Need more proof? When is the last time you tried to read an owners manual or assembly instructions?

I agree that the english language is the hardest to learn. We have so many words that, while spelled the same, mean two totally different things. One form may be a verb while the other a noun (lead comes to mind). How difficlut is that to teach? What about a word that changes tense depending on its usage? Read comes to mind.

One more is I agree with the technology thing. The kids today are growing up with the texting way of communication. We use in here but no nearly to the extent the kids do. I have heard it is showing up in the school work. Can any of you business owners comment on the abilty of one of these texting wizards to land a job in your company?

[Leigh Betsch]

Just try to read some of the news stories on Yahoo. I know I am not as articulate as I would like, but it totally amazes me how poorly many of these paid professionals write.

[Michael James]

Second, Many of the catalogs may be written in another country and run though a rough translator. ...When is the last time you tried to read an owners manual or assembly instructions?

Yeah, man, we be there! My absolute all time favorite was on a little import cassette recorder....."push button and pray".

[Dan Friedrichs]

Couple of points: Just saw in the news that somewhere in the neighborhood of 39% of college grads are no smarter then the first day they hit the campus. That in itself is scary since most jobs these days require some form of college degree.

Here's the article on that: http://chronicle.com/article/Are-Und...tually/125979/
That is a really scary read.

One more is I agree with the technology thing. The kids today are growing up with the texting way of communication. We use in here but no nearly to the extent the kids do. I have heard it is showing up in the school work. Can any of you business owners comment on the abilty of one of these texting wizards to land a job in your company?

I'm not a business owner, but having recently taught undergrads at a public ivy, I would concur that "texting-style communication" (and the lack of formality and professionalism associated with it), as well as many other factors, have resulted in many young people who are unable to produce written work that is anywhere close to the expected standards.

[Jim Koepke]

We are raising generations of kids who cannot tell time on a wristwatch, much less construct a legible sentence.

I had a problem with young people, to me that is people under 30 at the time, while trying to explain that a screw with 40 threads per inch could be used to change adjustments on a machine. I tried to explain that turning it 15 minutes or 90° would change the adjustment .00625". They could not figure out what I meant by 15 minutes being the same as 90°. They kind of when nuts when told that turning it 5 minutes would be about .002". One guy suggested that he could unscrew the whole assembly in less than a minute.

Think about how stupid the average person is...half the population is dumber

Not to be a picker of nits here, but I think half of the population is less intelligent than the mean, (the term or one of the terms midway between the first and last terms of a progression).

Depending on if we have more highly intelligent or a few that are quite the opposite, more than half of the average could be on either side of the divide. Kind of like sitting in a bar and Bill Gates walks in. The average income shoots way up, but only one is above the average.

Just try to read some of the news stories on Yahoo. I know I am not as articulate as I would like, but it totally amazes me how poorly many of these paid professionals write.

I do not think Yahoo News is written in North America. A quick search on > who writes yahoo news < did not give a definitive answer. Read not long ago that a lot of news agencies are using overseas writers to save money.

In high school, my English class grades were atrocious. My spelling is not all that good, thank God and many others for spell checkers. My grammar can also be off or even the wrong word in the wrong place. But I was able to teach myself to use a keyboard.

Public education has become unwieldy and parents expect the schools to do their job in many cases.

I feel sorry for the teacher that has no control over a classroom and no support to take back the control.

It isn't going to get better if we don't do something to make it better.

jtk

[Glenn Vaughn]

I had a problem with young people, to me that is people under 30 at the time, while trying to explain that a screw with 40 threads per inch could be used to change adjustments on a machine. I tried to explain that turning it 15 minutes or 90° would change the adjustment .00625". They could not figure out what I meant by 15 minutes being the same as 90°. They kind of when nuts when told that turning it 5 minutes would be about .002". One guy suggested that he could unscrew the whole assembly in less than a minute.jtk

The "15 minutes or 90°" either is incorrect or does not reference the same type of measurements. In a full circle there are 360 degrees. Each degree is split up into 60 parts, each part being 1/60 of a degree. These parts are called minutes. Each minute is split up into 60 parts, each part being 1/60 of a minute. These parts are called seconds. Therfore 16 minutes would be 1/4 of a degree not 90°. It is apparent the reference to "15 minutes" is to the movement of the minute hand on a clock face not as an an angle measurement.

[Tom Winship]

I was in 4th grade with a boy named Buster. He was tough but not a bully. That was Buster's 3rd or 4th year in the 4th grade. He didn't get promoted with us either. I've often thought that Buster was born 40 years too soon. Today, the answer would be, "we can't have a child stay in the 4th grade 5 years!" So I'm afraid he would have been promoted right on through graduation and would be the guy about who we are talking tonight.
Oh and by the way, the teacher would have been reprimanded.

[Tom Winship]

PS: I once got 30 points knocked off a term paper in high school because the teacher said I wrote in the margin. Under magnification, it showed that I didn't. When I brought this to the attention of the English teacher she said, "well you were too close anyway".
My grade didn't change and I learned a lifelong lesson; don't tempt fate.
By the way, I graduated in the top 10% of my class. As a matter of fact, my best friend and I were the top 10% of the class.

[Belinda Barfield]

It ain't jes the writin', it's the speakin' too. I was going to post one of my favorite overheard statements, but decided to just post the link.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ns+the+decline

[Dan Hintz]

Glenn got ya on that one, Jim ;-)

I don't consider the lack of ability to tell time on an analog clock to be a dumbing down, I simply consider it a skill not taught... I see no shame in no longer teaching skills that are becoming less and less important. How many students today learn how to use a sliderule in engineering classes? None, but I don't feel that hampers them in any way. What hampers them is their reliance on the calculator without understanding the problem at hand... but the same could be said for the sliderule.

[John Coloccia]

Just try to read some of the news stories on Yahoo. I know I am not as articulate as I would like, but it totally amazes me how poorly many of these paid professionals write.

It's not just Yahoo news...it's all of them. I constantly find myself having to take a deep breath and to simply reread the same sentence, over and over again, until it makes sense. Sometimes I win, sometimes I give up. I've also noticed this trend where writers try to be clever by never referring someone by the same name twice. One guy in one article will be referred to as, "The defendent", "David", "Dave", "Ortiz", "Jane's brother", "Taxi cab driver", etc.

I routinely see peoples names mentioned with NO reference as to who they are and how they're related to the story. "Jim Basalli told reporters today that his car was not involved in the robbery." Who the heck is Jim? Why would anyone think his car was involved? Are we just listing all the cars that weren't involved? My car wasn't involved. Should I schedule an AP interview? It's become absolutely torturous to read a lot of this garbage.

At first I thought it was me. I seriously started wondering if I was starting to suffer from some early onset cognitive slippage of some sort. Then I read other stories, obviously written by old timers, that are perfectly clear and to the point, and it's like a breath of fresh air. I can simply read the story and get the information without having to take notes.

[Bob Turkovich]

Glenn got ya on that one, Jim ;-)

I don't consider the lack of ability to tell time on an analog clock to be a dumbing down, I simply consider it a skill not taught... I see no shame in no longer teaching skills that are becoming less and less important. How many students today learn how to use a sliderule in engineering classes? None, but I don't feel that hampers them in any way. What hampers them is their reliance on the calculator without understanding the problem at hand... but the same could be said for the sliderule.

I still have my Post Versalog self-lubricating bamboo slide rule from over 40 years ago..........forgot how to use it, but I still have it!

[Connie Gill]

images.jpg Here is another good example - This is an actual street sign in our little town. There has been quite a bit of poking and pointing but guess what...it is still up there...

[Scott Shepherd]

I have an easy answer! I speak for millions of people just like me. My English teachers were the worst at connecting with students. I mean the worst. It was everything I could do to stay awake in that class. There's a lot of people out there that have no interest at all in literature when growing up. Forcing me to try and learn something that I have no interest in is a challenge. However, other teachers were able to do it. English teachers......not so much. I hated English class with a passion. From the time I entered high school until the time I left.

I've seen a lot worse example by a lot smarter people. Lay off us "Englishly Challenged" We don't mean no body no harm